While I am no expert I'll take a crack at this.
Anne wrote:
Hi Wyandotte Experts,
I need a wyandotte critique! I've never raised wyandottes before, but this spring I hatched some silver laced and some BLRW from a breeder who is supposedly pretty good, though now I can't remember her name for the life of me. Anyhow, I got a male and a couple females of each variety. Here are a few photos of the girls... don't have pics of the boys yet. I was wondering:
1) Are these "show quality?" Would they have a chance of winning anything?
2) What are their faults? I see that they have some feathers with pointy lacing instead of rounded... that's a fault I think? What about the blrw's... I think I heard somewhere that darker, richer red and blue are preferable, whereas mine are very light colored. Is that true?
3) What are their good points?
Thanks!
You can show blue laced at any show even though they are not a recognized variety. The argument is that you will never win the show with them. True, but you will rarely if ever see any of other varieties of Wyandotte win a show either. Other than whites in LF, Wyandottes rarely make the cut. I believe Rick Hare won grand champion with silver laced last year but again that is rare. So show them and enjoy them.
Are these "show quality?" Would they have a chance of winning anything?
Although your blue laced seem to have good color, they are long in the back void of the correct 30 degree tail rise, and their heads seem to be a little small, but they still look young. They can take about 10 to 12 months to fill out. The silver laced has great color and lacing but it appears from the pictures that they have pinched or clam tails up top. They need to be open. With that all said they seem to be from good stock and would make great breeders but they would struggle at show. Keep in mind whoever you bought them from probably has good birds but that certainty does not mean that they produce clones. It is hard to get the same quality that the breeder has with just a single order of chicks.
Here are a couple examples of what I feel are good Wyandottes
Notice the head on my blue laced pullet. It is too small. Aside from that take a close look at the wide open tail set and over all type on her. They are possitive atributes and make her highly desireable for show and as a breeder. Hope this helps.
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